Enjoying some family time

So it has been a little while since I last posted, but we have been busy here in Durham. My mom came to visit! She came last Wednesday and she is in the process of heading back to the west coast. It was great having her here, but I wish I could have spent more time with her. Shawn got to play tour guide most of the time because I still had classes and readings to do. (That's the life of a grad student).

We still managed to have a lot of fun though. In the evenings, we spent some time using our new grill. We got the grill as a wedding gift from some wonderful family members, and Shawn and I have really enjoyed learning how to use it. While we were in Virginia he got some tips from his brother, and he's been watching that Pit Masters show on Food Network, so although we aren't pros yet, he has an idea of what he is doing.

We grilled the majority of nights my mom was here, but today I'm going to chronicle our adventures with ribs. :-) (Side note: Vegetarians may not like this post very much). Shawn started out by finding an authentic North Carolina barbecue recipe. Now since we haven't eaten out at any authentic North Carolina barbecue restaurants we can't really be completely sure of the authenticity, but it looked reasonable so we went with it. The difference between barbecue here and other places? A vinegar base.

So the ribs had to go through the process of being marinated. Shawn made the marinade and after the ribs sat for awhile it was time for them to hit the grill. Shawn's method is much more advanced that what I can describe, but I know the process involved searing the outside and then moving the ribs to a lower heat so that they could slowly cook from the inside. Whatever the process, it yielded some delicious results.

In addition to the ribs we had corn bread and baked beans, really hammering home that barbecue theme. We even made the baked beans on the grill because it has a handy side burner that works perfectly for baked beans. Here's a picture of the ribs in progress:

So far grilling has been a lot of fun. We enjoyed some good food, but even better is that we got to enjoy the lovely outdoor weather, our comfortable Adirondack chairs and a nice glass of wine while making it!